A real torment can be a situation when the stomach hurts for a week. In such a situation, it is necessary to turn to a qualified doctor for help as soon as possible, but this is not always realistic - for example, a person can be far from civilization. A difficult situation is when a tourist gets sick in another country and contacting local doctors is not only expensive, but also difficult due to the language barrier.
Is it worth the worry?
If the stomach hurts greatly, this probably indicates a serious illness, and it is difficult to predict which one - such symptoms are characteristic of a wide list of pathologies. It is not always a pain of the stomach that manifests itself in pains, the pathology can be completely different, only pointing to itself through this symptom. To understand what the reason is, you need to see a doctor and describe as much as possible what kind of pain syndrome is disturbing. It is precisely by the peculiarities of sensations that it is often possible to significantly limit the list of possible conditions of a patient.
If the stomach of a child or adult is severely painful, an ulcer is possible. In such a situation, the sensations are sudden, sharp, very strong. Pancreatitis manifests itself in a similar way. Severe and sharp pain is possible with a chemical burn, poisoning. Sometimes patients describe the sensations by comparing them to a stab wound. This is more characteristic of ulcer perforation. Peptic ulcer can manifest itself by burning. The same is characteristic of gastritis. The initial, chronic form of these pathologies often manifests itself as aching pain, dull, exhausting.
What to look for?
If the stomach hurts , the abdominal pain becomes stronger after eating or in a hungry state, it is likely that the cause is gastritis. Cramps, unpleasant sensations resembling contractions, may indicate an ulcer or an inflammatory process in the intestine. The syndrome is activated more often during a night's rest or shortly after a meal (after an hour or more). It also happens that the pain is acute, but quickly passes, as if shooting, and the duration of the attack is a few seconds. More often this is typical for inspiration or when changing the position of the body. The reason is in spasmodic reactions of the diaphragm, provoked by a lack of blood flow, inflammatory processes.
If the stomach of a woman or a man hurts, the sensations are weak, aching, do not stop for a long time, a high probability of malignant neoplasm. Gastric polyps manifest themselves with similar symptoms. If metastases penetrate into the pancreas, the nature of the pain changes to herpes zoster. But the infection can be suspected by pain of a high degree of saturation, reminiscent of labor. Colitis and other intestinal diseases often manifest themselves first as a strong pain syndrome in the upper abdomen. After a couple of days, the pain becomes weaker, but does not disappear completely. Observing such symptoms, it is necessary to make an appointment with the doctor as soon as possible to formulate an accurate diagnosis.
Problems and manifestations
It is not always easy to understand why the stomach hurts. Pain in the abdomen of increased intensity, localized near the navel, lasting several hours, shifting into the abdomen on the right, slightly higher than the original area, suggest appendicitis.
With irritable bowel syndrome, the patient also suffers from stomach pains. Often a child has a stomach ache with intestinal obstruction. The syndrome provokes injuries, aortic dissection, vascular intestinal thrombosis and ischemia, nervous pathologies. Perhaps the cause is allergy.
Should I panic?
If there are pains in the sides of the abdomen, below or above, with any nature of sensations, you should as soon as possible sign up to the doctor. The pathologies that manifest themselves with such sensations, in their main part, are quite serious, and medical care is very urgent. For example, the survival rate for appendicitis, ulcerative perforation, intoxication, ischemia directly depends on how quickly the patient was rendered assistance. Sometimes this is not a matter of hours, but minutes, delay can lead to the most negative results. If the pain is very severe, there is no opportunity to go to the hospital, you need to call an ambulance.
What to do
Having felt pain in the lower abdomen (and with any other localization), it is necessary to get to the doctor as soon as possible. Self-medication with such sensations is strictly prohibited, there is a high probability of worsening the situation until death. Even an experienced qualified doctor can not always clearly articulate only at the initial examination, what is the cause of the pain syndrome.
The primary care that can be given for pain in the lower abdomen (and other localization) is limited to a fairly small set of measures. You should call an ambulance or go to the clinic if the condition allows it, but for relief you can take a means to eliminate spasm or pain medication. If there is heartburn, special drugs from the antacid group will come to the rescue - they lower the level of acidity. Help can be provided by means that stop the secretory function - thanks to them, acid will be produced in a smaller volume. It must be understood that sometimes such measures do not give effectiveness, since heartburn is provoked by a variety of factors. There is a risk of worsening when using these groups of drugs.
What will help me?
If abdominal pains are observed (in women, men), it is necessary to use medications very carefully - their use is fraught with considerable risk. The effect of such a tool can significantly change the symptoms of the disease, which will complicate the diagnosis for the doctor. The most modern means are really effective, their reception allows you to stop the pain syndrome, and the duration of action is often quite long, so the patient thinks he’s recovered. This opinion is erroneous, the absence of symptoms does not indicate the disappearance of the root cause. Resorting to pain medication, without going to the doctor, the patient is wasting his time. The elimination of the investigation does not stop the cause, and the condition gradually worsens.
It is generally accepted that abdominal pain can be eliminated with a heating pad. With the exception of some individual cases, this method of solving the problem is strictly prohibited. For example, if the cause of the syndrome is inflammation associated with the separation of pus, additional heating will significantly worsen the condition of the patient. The warmer will have a strong negative effect with internal bleeding. The disease will progress faster, the condition worsens rapidly.
What to tell the doctor?
Having received an appointment with a doctor, waiting for the arrival of an ambulance, you should describe your condition in as much detail as possible. To begin with, sensations are localized, they say, for example, that the lower abdomen hurts (or the top, on the right, on the left). The better the doctor will imagine what the patient feels, the more effective it will help. It will not be superfluous to recall what circumstances preceded the appearance of sensations - what was eaten, done, what time of day the pain occurred, how much time has passed since the last meal. The doctor should be aware of the nature of the sensation, how strong they are, whether the focus shifts, how the syndrome is corrected over time.
So that the doctor can determine as accurately as possible why the abdominal pain is bothering, the patient should remember everything eaten in the last couple of days. This applies to both food and all drinks, as well as medicines, including vitamins, biological additives. In the presence of additional symptoms, it should also be voiced very accurately. Doctors are advised if the pain was accompanied by nausea, stool disorders, vomiting, bleeding, gas, belching. Sometimes a rash, fever, dizziness, and a heart rhythm go astray are additionally observed. You must also notify the doctor about this to formulate an accurate diagnosis.
What's important?
If you are concerned about abdominal pain, information about the concomitant pain syndrome, for example, in muscle tissue or joints, will help the doctor to make a correct diagnosis. If the patient has recently experienced natural, pathological changes in health, this should also be warned. Important nuances include menopause, childbirth, feeding the baby, and bearing the fetus. Diseases, nervous experiences, overwork, sudden weight changes - all this will help the doctor determine what the cause of the pain syndrome is. Anxiety, depression, lifestyle adjustment can play a role.
In order for the doctor to quickly determine what is the cause of abdominal pain, all important information must be submitted in a systematic manner. If you are going to a clinic or waiting for an ambulance to arrive, you need to think over all the important aspects, you can even write them out on paper so that nothing escapes the attention area.
Correct diagnosis
Just knowing that the lower abdomen hurts, no pathology can be established. Correct diagnosis is a comprehensive measure. First, the doctor collects an anamnesis, interviewing the patient, examining him externally, palpating, listening to the heart and lungs. Based on the information received, a preliminary diagnosis is formulated and which instrumental, laboratory studies are needed to clarify the condition. Usually prescribed a test of urine, feces, blood, stomach juice. To ensure that the results are as accurate as possible, ultrasound, CT, MRI, and a contrast x-ray are prescribed.
These measures in most cases make it possible to understand why pains in the lower abdomen have developed in women, men (as well as with other localization options). In rare cases, there is a need for additional measures, for example, laparoscopy. This is a technology for examining human viscera through a small probe inserted through an incision into the internal organs. The probe is equipped with a camera that transmits an image to a monitor where material is recorded.
How to treat?
If the stomach hurts (during pregnancy, during menstruation, at any other time), treatment should be selected based on the reasons that provoked the sensation, which means that only a doctor can choose the appropriate measures of action. However, it is worth considering some well-known and widely applicable techniques.
Heartburn
Pain in this condition is often felt in the upper abdomen, near the sternum, slightly behind. The syndrome is provoked by the ingestion of substances in the stomach into the esophagus. This is often observed shortly before a meal. Heartburn is not an independent disease, but only signals about other pathologies. Perhaps the cause is gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, cholecystitis. To determine a specific source, you need to go through a specialized study.
As can be seen from medical statistics, often for heartburn the inhabitants take manifestations of cardiac pathology. Such abdominal pain can be given to angina pectoris, high blood pressure. Symptoms, despite all the similarities, have nothing to do with the digestive system. To get rid of heartburn, you should treat the underlying disease, and also switch to the correct diet, absorbing food up to five times daily in small quantities. Spicy, fatty, alcoholic, spices, smoked, salty, carbonated, bean are completely prohibited. Do not eat fiber-rich foods.
Appendicitis
Sometimes severe pains in the lower abdomen in women and men are provoked by inflammation of the appendix. Such a pathology develops very quickly, and the treatment that is started in time brings the best results. Currently, appendicitis is one of the most common problems that people turn to surgeons in the emergency department. In the very beginning, this disease can easily be cured with medications, surgery is not required, but many simply do not pay attention to the symptoms, so you have to survive the operation. However, the forecasts are mostly favorable. Often, patients seek medical help a day after the onset of the acute phase and even later. A little less than one percent of such situations result in death.
If your stomach hurts due to appendicitis, you should seek qualified help immediately. It must be remembered that the disease progresses very quickly, only three days are necessary from the initial manifestation to the gangrenous foci. Symptoms are often blurry, a fifth of all patients even with tissue necrosis feel only mild pain, which they do not pay attention to until the situation becomes critical.
Responsibility is the key to health
If the stomach hurts during menstruation, while bearing the fetus, suddenly, without any obvious reasons, you should quickly seek specialized help if possible. Procrastination in such a situation can end badly, especially if the cause is toxicosis, peptic ulcer disease, infection. There are known cases of death provoked by such reasons.
Sometimes unpleasant sensations indicate only minor malfunctions in the body, but it is possible that very serious pathologies manifest themselves. For a layman, it’s not possible to determine what’s the matter just by symptoms, there are too many things in common for different reasons. You can not ignore the pain. A reasonable and responsible approach is the timely visit to a qualified doctor.
Gastritis
By this term, it is customary to denote inflammatory processes that affect the mucous membranes of the gastric system. The cause of gastritis can be frequent and severe stress, adversely affecting colonies of microorganisms, metabolic problems, infectious diseases. Often leads to gastritis alcohol abuse, prolonged use of drugs. Among the common causes are autoimmune pathologies. Gastritis itself can provoke a gastric ulcer. When eliminating the symptoms of such a pathology, it is forbidden to use aspirin, ibuprofen. Despite the high effectiveness of these drugs as painkillers for this situation, they are not applicable, since they negatively affect the gastrointestinal mucosa. But the adsorbents enveloping can bring benefit. If the disease is associated with a bacterial infection, the doctor will prescribe a course of antimicrobial medicines.
An important aspect of the fight against the pain caused by gastritis is strict adherence to a therapeutic diet. Normally, the patient is forbidden to eat salted, fried, spicy, fiber, any products that stimulate fermentation. You can’t drink milk, eat products based on it, bread and similar dishes. A ban is imposed on a number of fruits, in particular grapes.